A few years after I moved to rural Nebraska, an elementary school teacher told me “Anne, it takes a community to raise a child”. I was a new mother at the time trying to figure my way into the vast responsibilities of having a child, and her words resonated in my heart. Many years later, I still think of her advice as I continue to raise my own daughters as well as serving as a youth athletic coach in our small town.

A great amount of power exists in a community. The team work and dedication to a common cause provides strength and longevity. Just as strength comes in numbers, compassion increases exponentially as the group works to provide for its members and the common good. Although my vocation is responsibly raising beef, the local kids that I coach and mentor serve as a daily reminder of what is truly important in life. Of all of the things that my community has given to me over the past twenty years, the ability to positively make a difference in the lives of our youth is the one that I truly treasure.

While it takes a community to raise a child, it also takes a food production community to raise high quality and traceable beef. From the ranch all of the way to the dinner plate — an organized supply chain needs to inspire all of the contributors to act with integrity and congruence. What Virginia, Rachel and I do on our farms makes a difference in the lives of our animals. In order to complete the circle of quality, we need partners at the retail level of food production to maintain and augment that value all of the way to your dinner table.

The best way to do that is to work together to build a brand. Three years ago my feed yard became a member of the Beef Marketing Group. I was looking for a group of like-minded feed yards who focused on quality animal care, and were interested in coming together to sell a value added product. Each feed yard in our cooperative participates in the Progressive Beef QSA program and is audited against animal welfare, food safety and sustainability standards.

The Beef Marketing Group now teams up with Tyson Foods and Performance Food Groups to bring the Braveheart Beef product to your restaurant table.

This is a unique and true partnership that adds value all across the production chain. Cattle care and farmer integrity are assured, and the Path Proven technology verifies that the DNA of the Braveheart Beef comes from one of our Progressive Beef certified animals.

This adds confidence to the food supply chain by:

Audited and verified animal care on the farm

Meat testing to ensure traceability and product integrity

BMG, Tyson, and Performance Food Groups come together to let you know that “we’ve got your back” relative to beef quality and farmer integrity. The product is sold in restaurants all across the country, and we are hopeful that demand for it will continue to grow making it even easier to get to your dinner plate in the future!

My girls are blessed to be able to grow up on “Mama’s beef”, now the Braveheart Beef brand makes it easier for you to be also 🙂

Quick substantially taller than her Mama 🙂 We have not measured her in a while but she has caught her sisters so she must be 5’7″ or a bit taller than that. I don’t know if she will quite catch her daddy (who stands at 6’1″), but she has passed the rest of us by!

I always wanted to be tall. I love it that my girls got some height from their daddy. My older two were standing on a bit of a low spot in the picture as they both are 4″ taller than I am.

It is fun watching them grow up and being a part of their busy lives!
Best,
Anne

Welcome to Feedyard Foodie

A native of urban Palm Beach County, Florida; I was an Ivy League educated athlete fueled by beef for many years before I understood “where my beef came from.” Now, I am a mother of three and live with my husband in Nebraska where we run a cattle feedyard and farming operation. Feed Yard Foodie is a site where people can come to read about the real story of beef, written by someone who actually gets their hands dirty.

Behind the Scenes at my Yard, Will Feed, Inc.

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